The runaway crow
by Sherry Furude
Summary: Gin and Sherry are sent on a mission to a little-known island, where they must find and kill a former member of the Black Organization. However, their task soon turns out to go against their most honest and desperate wish. GinSherry. Second fic of my Mission Saga.
1. Chapter 1: Furniture issues

**DISCLAIMER:** The entire _Detective Conan_ series, including its characters, belong to **Gosho Aoyama**. This is a **non-profit fan work**.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Furniture issues.**

Gin and Sherry walked into the hotel room and closed the door behind them. Having being previously informed didn't stop the boy from having a look across the room in search of a specific piece of furniture – when he found it, he didn't even bother to help the unpleased look his face showed. Sherry turned to him, as if she had sensed his upset, and folded her arms over her chest.

'Can't we just… change it?' she asked.

'I don't think so,' Gin responded with a jerk of his head, 'It would look suspicious.'

'Then, what are we going to do?' she demanded. 'We're out of options.'

'I guess we'll have to… you know, share it.'

Sherry sighed. Leaving her suitcase behind, she walked to the double bed that stood in the middle of the room and sat on it. The mattress moved down and then back up at her weight, which made her breasts wiggle under the thin fabric of her light blue spotted top. Gin found himself staring at her chest and immediately blushed. He looked away, hoping she hadn't noticed, while various thoughts involving Sherry, her breasts and that bed flew in and out of his mind.

'We're pretending to be a couple on a winter holiday,' he spoke, trying to remain as calm-looking as possible. 'It would have been weird to ask for two beds.'

'You should have come with Vodka,' Sherry grumbled.

'Vodka?' the boy repeated with a laugh. 'Don't you realize how awkward it would have been for us to share a bed? No, thanks, I'd rather sleep next to you…'

'But won't it be awkward, too?' she insisted. 'Being so close to each other, even if we still haven't…'

Gin couldn't help blushing again. There was the topic they had been dodging ever since their most recent (unsuccessful) attempt. As he thought about it, the feelings of powerlessness and shame of that last time came to him, clutching his heart at once.

'I just…' he started. 'I… I don't think I'm ready. Not yet. It's your virginity, Shiho' he argued, finally using her real name. The girl turned, recognizing the unmistakable sign that he was being serious. 'And mine, too. And I don't think I'm ready to take your virginity… or to let you take mine. Not yet, at least. I'm sorry if… '

'Don't be sorry,' she interrupted him, gesturing with her hands while she herself blushed. 'It's okay. I don't think I'm ready to do it, either. It's… it's too much of a deal just to… do it senselessly.'

'Maybe we should take our time,' he suggested. 'Find our own pace and… try not to rush things.'

'You're right. No pressure – just… everyday life, day by day.'

'That's it. And regarding this bed…' he added, walking towards his girlfriend as he gave the piece of furniture an evaluating look, 'I guess it won't be that much of a problem. We'll make it through. You know, being so physically close may even help us.'

'And it won't last much, after all,' she pointed. 'What was that woman's name again?'

'In the Organization, she was known as Yomashi Takada,' the boy responded with a casual tone.

'Weird name.'

'Indeed. I like "Sherry" way better.'

The two of them laughed and Gin, thankful for the now calmer atmosphere, finally gathered the courage to take a seat by her side. Sherry did notice, although she didn't reject his approach in any way. Once he was sitting next to her, he seized his chance to have a good look at his girlfriend – her reddish-brown hair, of a color he had never seen in anyone else; her light blue eyes, two little pieces of sky he could easily sink into for everlasting minutes; her smooth, tender skin; her gracious figure… How could she be so beautiful?

'I never heard of her,' Sherry went on with their conversation. 'And, obviously, she won't be using that name anymore, or will she?'

'She isn't,' he clarified. 'At first we considered that she might be using her actual name, Eiko Rukuma, but we found out she's made up a new one: Hikako Saigo. That's the woman we're looking for.'

'At least we have a slight idea of where she lives. We don't have to find her from scratch.'

'She hid well,' the boy reckoned. 'This is a very little known island – I myself didn't know it existed until we were assigned for the mission…'

'When you run away from the Organization, you'd better hide well,' Sherry pointed out with a cynic smile. 'And yet, she didn't hide well enough – here we are, little more than two months after she left… Though I must admit I'm surprised it took the Organization so long to find her.'

Gin shrugged.

'She turned out to be smarter than they thought. She escaped in the first place, after all, which is quite an achievement itself…'

'And do you think we will find her?' his girlfriend questioned. 'From what I've been told, she seems to be pretty clever…'

'Not as much as the brightest scientist the Organization has had since her very parents,' Gin pointed out with a grin as he bent towards Sherry. She merely shrugged and shook her head.

'But don't you forget that said scientist is only that – a scientist. I do know a lot on chemistry, and drugs, and all that stuff… but nothing on hiding traitors or how to find them.'

'Finding her will be a matter of using our common sense and logic, nothing more,' the boy replied. 'It won't be that hard, not while having you. That's why "that person" chose you.'

'But someone else was chosen, right?' she added with an amused smile. 'A certain sharp-minded, long-haired boy. I think he will be the one to find the runaway.'

'They'll do it together,' Gin claimed, looking at Sherry in the eye. 'They're both very bright, and so won't have any difficulty. Don't you think so?'

The young scientist nodded her head. While still in silence, she moved her face closer to his and then placed a sudden, quick kiss on his lips. Her nose brushed softly against his for an instant when she retreated, and Gin couldn't help the blush that rushed up to his cheeks.

'I'm sure they'll succeed,' she whispered. 'And one last thing – did you know that they're a couple… and that they're both still virgins?'

Gin bent backwards as his chest shook with laughter. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sherry made a grin of her own, and that only made him feel happier. Indeed, that mission was going to be singularly nice.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

Here we are again! **I'm sorry it's been so long**. I finished writing this fic on November 15th, but many reasons have prevented me from publishing it earlier - mainly the **lack of time and of confidence**. Today I had some time and I thought 'Why not?' So here we are.

Again, I wrote this fic for a Tumblr request. I won't tell you what the anon requested me, as it would spoil you part of the story, both **I hope you all** , especially the anon, **like the way it has turned out**! As much as I myself like what I've written, I must admit **I still haven't decided whether the events of this fic will be part of my fanon** (the events and facts which I headcanon, including Gin's actual name), as it would mean the removal of a certain headcanon I have had for some time now.

As I always repeat, **I encourage you to tell me if you find any grammar, punctuation or spelling mistake.** Help me improve my writing! I will be more than thankful.

I will be publishing **one chapter per week** (as usual) every **Sunday**. The time of the day? I'm not very sure.

So this is it for today. **See you next week and l** **ots of love!**

Sherry F.


	2. Chapter 2: Rest and work

**Chapter 2: Rest and work.**

The first thought that came to Sherry's mind when she woke up was that she wasn't at her apartment. Maybe it was how different the sheets and blankets felt, the way sunlight timidly came into the room and clashed against her closed eyes, or the faint sounds coming from the other side of the walls. Either way, she knew it. An answer quickly floated up to the surface of her half-asleep, half-awake mind – she was in a hotel room in a little island where she had been sent as part of a mission for the Organization, and that was the second morning she woke up on that very bed. Now in the contentment of knowledge, she slowly opened her eyes and waited for them to adapt to the dim light.

An inevitable blush rushed up to her cheeks when she recognized the figure that curled up only a few inches away from her as being Gin's. Her pulse quickened at the realization, but it got back to a more relaxed pace when a stream of memories flooded her mind with the answers she needed. She recalled the awkwardness of the first night as the blushing two of them lay on the bed and fought to fall asleep, trying to ignore their racing hearts…

Sherry got off the bed and walked into the clean bathroom without looking back at her sleeping boyfriend. The water felt cold as she washed her face, but she didn't really mind. At least, it might help her handle with her seemingly burning cheeks…

She heard Gin wake up some minutes later, while she finished brushing her teeth. His feet made an unmistakable sound as he got up and walked around the bedroom, seemingly trying to clear his drowsy mind. Sherry spit the foamy toothpaste and turned at the door of the bathroom.

'Good morning.'

'Good morning,' the boy answered, turning at her voice and hinting a smile when he finally saw her. 'You woke up early today.'

'It's been about three minutes,' she replied with a shrug. 'And today is going to be a busy day, isn't it?'

Gin sighed and scratched his head, getting his silver-looking hair only messier than it already was.

'Indeed,' he agreed. 'Today is our first big day. We had to wait – otherwise, it would have looked too suspicious.'

'"Too suspicious" this, "too suspicious" that…' Sherry complained with a grin. 'I have lost count of how many times you've said those two words in the last few days.'

'Our target isn't someone we should underestimate,' the boy argued. 'She escaped the Organization and has hidden from them for over a month – don't you think she would easily tell if two strangers started following her right after coming out of nowhere?'

'I'm not saying she has no brains,' Sherry retorted, 'but don't you think you may be worrying… a little bit too much?'

'I'd rather worry too much than see her escape right under my nose,' he claimed, raising his ash-blonde eyebrows at once. 'You know I'm a cautious lad.'

'And one with a notable pride, too.'

'Sometimes, the reasons aren't what really matters,' he argued. 'So? Should we go have breakfast before we get started with the first phase of our mission?'

She nodded and gave him a smile.

Fifty minutes later, Sherry walked out of the hotel into the cool, cloudy day. Gin, who had been chatting with the clerk, ran up to her and made her a gesture, to which the two started walking down the lonely street.

'Was that necessary?' she questioned as she arched an eyebrow.

The boy at her side opened her eyes wide and made an offended look. Sherry simply sighed and looked away.

'Of course it was!' he replied. 'Friendly people are regarded as less suspicious than the average. Besides, clerks and this kind of workers are often treated indifferently or rudely, which makes them value those who are nice to them.'

'So you're virtually buying their silence.'

Out of the corner of the eye, Sherry saw her boyfriend give her a side look. She let out an amused smile and held his hand – Gin, being caught off guard, blushed a little at her touch.

'Don't be so cynical,' he complaint, his cheeks now of a pale red.

'You know what I'm like,' Sherry objected with a shrug. 'Go find a more suitable partner if you don't like cynical people. You have my blessing. Invite me to the wedding, though – I am sure you would look lovely in a wedding suit.'

The boy giggled quietly and tightened the hold of his hand on hers.

'Yet another reason I love you,' he hummed.

'Oh, you do?'

Gin laughed again, louder this time, and then placed a quick peck on her cheek, to which she couldn't help the roguish smile that appeared on her lips nor the blush that colored her face for a brief moment.

'The clerk warned me about something, by the way,' he spoke after a while, breaking the shy silence that had been born between the two. 'Apparently, there's a storm coming up. A big one.'

'When, exactly?'

'In two days' time at the most,' he informed. 'Sadly, it may interrupt our investigation.'

'But that's actually good, isn't it?' she commented. 'An in-between pause will take our target's guard down – and then, when she's relaxed and weak, we'll hit again and finish her.'

Gin smiled and nodded his head in approval.

'Now you're playing the game. However, I'm afraid I may need to get your feet back on the ground.'

'Why?' protested the girl.

'It doesn't matter much. Being a scientist, it's only natural that you-'

'To the point, Gin.'

'I don't think it'll take us two days to be ready to "finish" her, to use your words,' he explained, turning his face at Sherry as he talked. 'If it did, I would deserve three times the money I earn.'

'How long will it take, then?' she asked. They walked around a corner and found themselves in a slightly more crowded street, even if that meant that the only people apart from them were half a dozen of elders having a morning stroll or carrying bags of food back and forth.

'Four, five, six days – it depends on many factors,' Gin finally answered. 'And there's the storm and the delay it may mean, plus how long we've been in the island already… Eight days altogether, at the most.'

'So?' the girl inquired. 'Eight days will do it?'

'At the most.'

'Sounds nice.'

'For the time being, let's focus on today's work,' he pointed. 'It's better to take these things one step at a time.'

'And today's mission… don't tell me… consists on stalking her. Am I right?'

'"Stalk" is a harsh word,' he protested, though Sherry's gaze caught the hint of a smile on his lips. 'I don't "stalk" people…'

'You do, and so are we going to,' the girl retorted. 'We're going to follow her throughout the day (as discreetly as we can, that is), aren't we?'

'We are.'

'There's a word for that.'

Gin chuckled and released Sherry's hand, only to move his arm around his waist and move her closer to him. Still with a smile on his face, he turned and kissed her on her lips. The girl, after her initial surprise, kissed him back and gently pressed her body against his. Even through the layers of thick clothing, Sherry could feel the warmth he gave off, surrounding her like a balmy coat in the cool air of the morning.

When the kiss got to his end, Gin and Sherry kept still, looking at each other in the eye for a while. Finally, hand in hand, they resumed their stroll down the long, quiet street, perfectly aware of the happy, wrinkled faces that smiled at them.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

First of all, **thank you for reading this far!** It honors me that you find my work to be worth your time. I hope you're enjoying reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Here we are one week later! As you see, I have come back to **my common publishing hours**. Actually, the only reason I published this fic's first chapter so late is that **I hadn't really planned to publish it at all**. I had uploaded it to the doc manager just in case, but then I thought to myself 'Why not?' and simply published it. I guess I'm glad I did it - **I was dying to share this story with you.** Are you glad, too? I hope so! I'm sorry if I made you wait too much for this fic.

Once again, let me encourage you to **tell me if you find any kind of mistake** (be it of grammar, punctuation, spelling or whatever). I want to improve my writing as much as I can! As you may know, **English is not my mother tongue**. And oddly enough, as time goes by I'm getting more and more used to writing fics in English rather than Spanish! Also, I would be more than glad to read your opinions on this chapter. Thanks to the anon who sent me a review on the first chapter - **you're lovely!**

I don't think I have much more to say - so this is it! Thank you again for reading and **see you next Sunday!**

 **Lots of love!**

Sherry Furude


	3. Chapter 3: The daily bread

**Chapter 3: The daily bread.**

Gin had no sooner walked out of the little bakery when his left foot stepped into a notable puddle of the many the storm had treated the island to. According to the talks he had had with some villagers, that wasn't much of a novelty for them – nor was the dismantlement of all telematics services which the harsh weather had caused. Unluckily, the latter left Sherry and Gin utterly and unavoidably incapable to communicate with any other members of the Organization, let alone its headquarters. Such situation didn't necessarily mean the failure of their mission, of course, but it surely was quite inconvenient. Paper bag in hand, the boy could only think he had been through worse. Way worse. And the repair would only take a couple of days, after all.

The sound of Sherry's new caramel-colored boots on the wet pavement dragged him out of his own thoughts. The girl had reached for his free hand, which he spread out in an invitation for her to hold it. With a nod of understanding, she tangled her fingers around his and the two started walking away from the now quiet shop.

'Do you want some bread?' he asked, moving the paper bag before her eyes.

'No, thanks,' Sherry responded. 'I hope you didn't buy it out of pity or anything.'

'That chap's business goes too well for anyone to buy things out of pity,' Gin objected. 'Quite a surprise, actually, that European bread and pastries are that successful in a Japanese village but, hey, who am I not to be happy for him? He even delivers bread to some people's houses daily – he leaves it hanging from their doorknobs early in the morning, from six to seven o'clock. Did you hear that?'

'I did.'

'One successful chap, I say,' Gin insisted. 'With delicious bread.'

'Now, what are we going to do today?' Sherry asked. 'Another stalking session, maybe?'

'Pretty much,' the boy admitted. 'I know what you're going to say, but it's better not to rush this kind of things – we need to have her well cornered and tracked down before we dare to make our next move.'

'You're the boss,' she sighed with a neutral wave of her free hand. 'I have no experience on this stuff. We'll do as you say.'

'The mission won't take much longer,' Gin hurried to add, trying to cheer her up. 'You'll be back home sooner than you expect. I promise.'

Sherry gave her boyfriend a side look and shrugged her shoulders.

'It's okay,' she spoke. 'Now, shall we get started with today's schedule?'

He nodded.

It was only many hours of stalking later that Gin and Sherry walked back into their hotel room.

'Do you think she saw us?' the girl inquired, walking towards the bed and then sitting down on it. 'By half past five, I mean, right before she visited that old woman.'

'I'm not sure,' Gin admitted. The room was rather warm when compared with the chilly streets, especially while still under half a dozen layers of clothing. The boy's fingers ran up to his coat and started unbuttoning it. 'She resumed speaking immediately, and she didn't even turn back – so, no, I don't think she saw us. And even if she did, I don't think she believed us to be more than a couple of tourists.'

'I hope you're right,' Sherry sighed. 'All our efforts would go to waste if she realized what we're doing.'

'Not necessarily,' he replied, finally dropping his coat on a hook. 'If we had for sure she knows about us, I could simply go and kill her. I could knock her door, and when she opened it, I would just shoot her in the head… Of course, it would be risky, and I would need to get out of there as soon as possible, but… '

Gin stopped. He turned back in a quick spin, expecting to see an armed intruder walking into their room – but the door was still shut, as he could verify with a mere glance at it, and Sherry and he were perfectly alone.

'What's wrong?'

Gin halted his own question, almost reaching the tip of his lips, as he heard Sherry address the very same words at him. He looked back at her, fighting not to repeat her query, and contemplated her for a moment. The face of horror she had displayed a few seconds ago and which had made him fear the worst had partially gone away – her lips still showed some unease, even if the look on her eyes had turned into what he identified better as astonishment. Suddenly remembering he had been asked a question, Gin hurried to make an answer out of his confused thoughts.

'I thought…' he began, 'I thought you were scared… I thought you had seen something which had scared you…'

Sherry's cheeks turned blushed in embarrassment at his response and she looked down, avoiding his gaze.

'I… It was nothing,' she muttered. 'Nothing at all…'

'It wasn't,' he retorted. 'What was it?'

Sherry looked back up. Fear had come back to her face, even if he didn't understand why, and she hesitated and bit her lower lip before speaking.

'It's only that…' the girl started timidly, 'that it surprised me how easily you talk about killing that woman, about death, about… about murder. So… coldly…'

Gin's heart seemed to twist at Sherry's words. He lowered his gaze, trying to control the sudden pain that invaded his chest, while his mind raced in anxiety.

'I'm sorry, just… forget it,' she apologized. 'It's only that I'm not used to these things, to this kind of missions – to all this chasing, and stalking and… '

'Murdering.'

Sherry nodded quietly.

'I'm no saint,' she continued. 'Who knows how many people might have been killed using my drugs – and let's not get started on the dozens of rats I've seen die before my very eyes and which I have killed myself. But it's just that… that…'

'I know what you mean,' Gin interrupted her. 'I don't like it, regardless of what other people may believe. I truly don't. The feeling when you take someone else's life is… awful. And who am I to do so?' he added, raising his voice along with his head. His eyes met hers, which still showed a little bit of fear. 'I don't like it – I am only used to it.'

'I know,' she responded. 'I don't blame you. It's them or you, after all. I understand.'

'I don't want you to fear me, Shiho', Gin added, calling her by her real name. The girl's look turned more serious. 'It's one of the last things I could ever want.'

'I don't fear you,' she protested, 'because I know who you truly are, what you're like. I know it's not your fault whatever you have to do in order to survive. I suffer from a similarly bad luck, after all' she added with a shy grin. 'I must kill in order to live, too, even if indirectly.'

'And you have lost lots, too,' he pointed out.

'But I still have you,' Shiho responded. 'And I still have my sister, too. And, for the time being, I consider you two to be more than enough.'

The boy couldn't help a smile at her final words. Moving closer to his girlfriend, he placed a soft peck on her forehead. Her smile widened and a hint of red colored her cheeks. When their faces moved away from each other's, they kept still and listened to the absolute silence of such peaceful evening.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

Here we are one week later! First of all, **thank you for reading this far**. It honors me very much! Thanks also to **the guest who has sent me reviews for the first two chapters**. You are lovely!

It may be a coincidence or not, but I don't really have much to talk about in this fic's author's notes. Usually, I would write lots and lots more. Why not now? I don't know.

Let me encourage you yet once more to **tell me if you find any kind of mistake** (of spelling, grammar, punctuation or anything else). **With your help, I will be able to improve my writing!** Also, I would be more than glad to read your opinions on this chapter and on the fic itself.

 **See you next week and lots of love!**

Sherry F.


	4. Chapter 4: Deep inside

**Chapter 4: Deep inside.**

Sherry had a look at the handful of papers that covered the modest writing desk of their room. A map of the island stood out among them, stretched all over the dark surface and notably featuring Gin's picturesque scribbles and handwriting. She could roughly tell how recently every single one of them had been made solely from the shine of the red marker ink.

'Do we have everything here?' she asked, her gaze still fixed on the many papers as she read them superficially. 'Every last detail we ought to know?'

'We do,' Gin answered with a shake of his head. Bent down towards the small table, the long ponytail he wore his hair in fell down his side like some sort of veil, framing his head in a silvery glow. 'Every address, every routine of our target's, every single information that could be relevant to our mission is here.'

'Are you sure no one will hear it? I know you'll be using a suppressor,' the girl added before her boyfriend could reply, 'but will it be enough? I mean, what if someone hears the shot, even if it's not that noisy?'

'It will be pretty late,' he argued, 'and the area where we'll kill her is usually deserted regardless of the time of the day. This town isn't that populated, after all, and most of the inhabitants of those particular streets either moved or died within the last ten years. The few that remain are elders. From what I've heard from the baker and others, most villagers avoid that area, as it's very lonely – our target merely uses it as a shortcut on her way back home after work on Thursdays and Fridays.'

'And that's when we'll attack her.'

'Yes. Do you remember the plan?'

'We get to the street and situate ourselves in our hiding points at ten to five,' she recited. 'Then, by ten past five, she appears. I seize her from behind, you come out and shoot her and I move away and let her fall dead on the pavement. Then we take her wallet, which we will later get rid of, and run away.'

'I think you should take your "basic kit" just in case,' Gin added with his gaze on the papers, as if he were talking to himself. 'You said you brought a kit with some drugs in case we needed to poison her, didn't you?'

'It would be too risky,' Sherry replied. 'Think about the autopsy – we would be busted in the bat of an eye.'

'They have no reason to suspect of us. As far as this island's police know, we are just a couple of tourists…'

'I'm not saying they're going to suspect precisely of us,' she clarified. 'But remember that we want to give the police a boring case so they don't investigate much. It must look as if the author had been a mere mugger – and when did mere muggers start carrying sedatives and other drugs around, if I may ask?'

'Alright, alright,' he sighed, finally raising both his gaze and head so as to look at the girl that stood beside him. 'Nevertheless, I think it would be better if you brought it. You carry some first-aid items in it too, don't you?'

'You think we could need them?' inquired Sherry, slightly worried. Gin would never ask her such thing if he lacked a reason… 'Is she that dangerous?'

The boy seemed to notice her worry, and so he started gesturing in the way she knew he did when trying to calm her down.

'We'll be okay,' he spoke. 'I'm cautious, that's all.'

'What did she do, by the way?' the girl asked, trying to change the subject. 'When she worked for the Organization, I mean. You haven't told me yet.'

Her tactic seemed to succeed – as soon as he gave him something else to think about, Gin's face quickly lost its worried look and adopted a more relaxed one.

'Pretty much the same as I do,' he finally responded. 'Only that she was… let's say, more of a rifle person than a pistol person.'

'Are you implying she was… a sniper?'

'Picture me with a rifle instead of my Beretta,' the boy explained. 'That's (roughly) it. And, of course, her rank was much lower.'

'But what does that all really mean to us?' Sherry inquired. 'Does it mean we should expect her to shoot us dead from the bank she works in? Or that she may have recognized you from her days in the Organization, and even be planning how to kill us at this very moment?'

To her surprise and relief, Gin let out a giggle at her questions. With a shrug of his shoulders, he gave her a smile and answered:

'I don't think it'll mean anything at all. First of all, she never met me – her rank wasn't high enough. And second, she is very unlikely to dare to attack us. When and where would she do it? It would be too risky. Remember she's quite well known in this town – the entire place would know it at once if she did anything out of the norm. And I believe shooting two "tourists" with a rifle is one of the things that people here would consider to be out of the norm.'

Sherry nodded and folded her arms.

'I hope you're right,' she muttered. 'She's pretty well known, that's for sure. And she seems to get along with everyone. I don't think she wants them to learn about her past or to see her as a criminal – it would surely ruin her reputation here. Her perfect reputation… and her perfect life…'

But she couldn't keep on. As the rest of her speech came to a halt in its way up her throat, she looked at Gin for no reason she could put into words and their eyes met. And for a single moment she knew they were thinking exactly the same – that they envied Rukuma, no matter how much they tried to pretend they didn't, for she had reached their ultimate, most desperate wish: she had escaped the Organization and now lived happily away from its evil spider web.

She had conquered the freedom they had never had.

As if suddenly aware of their own thoughts, both Gin and Sherry looked away at once with the ashamed attitude of a child trying to hide the consequences of their misconduct. Gin let go of the marker he had been holding and stood up straight. An awkward silence reigned in the room for a painful while, until Sherry finally unfolded her arms and shrugged.

'There will be no problem at all. For what we know, she has no idea about us,' she commented with a tone as casual as she could.

'You're right,' Gin added, awkwardness still perceptible in his voice and attitude like a faint echo. 'It will all go well. There's no reason to worry.'

'Not at all.'

Sherry looked back at her boyfriend and their eyes accidentally met again. In the most complete silence they held each other's stare, reading their own lies on the other's face.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

First of all and as I always repeat, **thank you for reading this far!** it really honors me more than words can express that you find my work to be worth your time and attention. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Actually, it took me **quite long** to make up Gin and Sherry's plan on how to kill Rukuma. It couldn't be too suspicious, it had to look simple to the police so they wouldn't investigate too much, it had to be effective... and, maybe above all, it had to make sense with the fact that **they are the ones assigned to do it**. When I started working on this request, that was my main "problem" and question: **why Sherry had been sent.** She's a scientist - no less, but no more. Her work is mostly intelectual and **she isn't likely to know very much on hand-to-hand combt or guns**. In the end, the main reason they are the ones sent is that they're both very brilliant. Also, Sherry brings a kit in case they need to drug their target. During the development of the fic **I considered various murder options** , including pushing Rukuma from a high place (preferably into the sea; I really liked this one), a fire, a car "accident" or even suffocation. I really racked my brain!

I guess I don't have much more to say. Thank you again for reading. **If you find any mistake** (of any kind), **do not hesitate to tell me**. And if you simply want to talk about the fic with me, I also encourage you to do so! I will be more than glad to answer your questions or read your opinions on the story.

 **Lots of love and see you next Saturday!**

Sherry F.


	5. Chapter 5: Sacrifice

**Chapter 5: Sacrifice.**

Gin tried to look as innocent as possible as he strolled down the twilit street. But, of course, there weren't many there to suspect of him – or even to see him. The few villagers that still hadn't retreated to their homes for dinner (plus the one or two actual tourists that just couldn't have enough of the tiny island) could be found mainly in the town center, which Gin and Sherry had recently left. The area they were journeying into, however, was pretty much as quiet and lonely as it would have been by midnight. They had hardly seen two or three people in the last ten minutes, all of which were the usual elders who bowed their heads slightly at them and then kept on walking, not paying too much attention to the long-haired boy and the blue-eyed girl who walked hand in hand in the dim light of the sunset.

Anyway, there was no need to get nervous or worried. That was just a reconnaissance mission – their third one to Rukuma's house and its surroundings, in fact. And it also was very likely to be the last one. The clerk of the hotel they were staying at had claimed that telematics services would be operative again by Friday, so Sherry and he had decided to kill Rukuma then, when they could contact the headquarters of the Organization as soon as they completed their mission. They would simply follow their plan and get the job done. Any third-party would have said there wasn't much more to it.

Only that there actually was. [Gin couldn't deny the doubts that had recently flourished in his mind on the matter of the killing itself.] Even if none of them had had the courage to say it out loud, both Sherry and he himself envied Rukuma for achieving a freedom they dreamt of. So why should they take it from her, why should they spoil her now peaceful life? But they had no choice at all. They had to kill her – he had to. Years of working for the Organization had taught him to put his feelings aside and do the things he was ordered, no matter how much he could loathe them. And now, walking down the dim street, he found himself facing that kind of situation yet again.

'Are you okay?'

Gin turned his head at one side. Sherry was staring at him, and it was only then that he noticed he had tightened the grip of his hand around hers. He loosened it at once, inevitably afraid that he could be hurting her.

'I'm sorry,' he spoke, looking down and then back up at the girl. 'I was lost in my thoughts. I'm okay, I was just… thinking…'

Sherry's look turned sadder in understanding and her gaze wandered away from his. There was no need for words – both could read the other's thoughts pretty easily. In an attempt to lighten the gloomy atmosphere, Gin gave her hand a squeeze so as to have her attention and then made a timid smile.

'Today's mission will be a piece of cake,' he commented. 'We're only going to have yet another look at the area. And in three days' time, we'll be back home.'

'Back home,' she repeated like an echo. 'Yes. I'm dying to be back. But, you know, these days have been nice. We haven't had much work to do, and it's surely been a break from routine.'

'Yes, indeed. It almost feels like being on holidays, doesn't it?' he added, his smile widening. 'There were times I nearly forgot that we were here to kill Rukuma.'

Gin regretted his choice of speech no sooner than he finished the sentence. In a matter of mere seconds, Sherry's face lost the smile it had started to hint and her look became darker again, his words shadowing her features as a whole with the weight of the harsh reality. He made an effort not to let out a curse - how could he have been so thoughtless? After what had happened only a few days before, how could he have forgotten that there were words and themes which could so easily hurt his girlfriend, that he should avoid them when talking to her?

'Sorry, I...' he started his second apology of the afternoon, 'I didn't mean to...'

'We're getting there,' she interrupted him, speaking in a surprisingly calm voice. Her head was held up and her eyes stared at the way before them. 'Focus and act naturally.'

Gin nodded and shut up. He could tell his cheeks showed a pinkish tone of red as Sherry and he walked around a corner and took a side street.

As they walked in an awkward silence, the boy tried to concentrate on their mission so as not to think about his mistake. However, the harder he tried to make it shut up, the louder a little voice inside his head seemed to repeat his very words; the more carefully he looked at the road before him and the houses at each side, the more clearly he saw Sherry's smile die against his eyelids. Her hand felt loose against his, as if it could slip away at any moment. It was only when they finally arrived at the street where Rukuma lived that she suddenly tightened her grip, even if he didn't really know what to work out of such gesture.

'Do you remember the plan?' she muttered as they approached Rukuma's house.

'Every last detail,' he answered in an equally quiet voice. 'It will go okay.'

Sherry looked at him as her sole response.

The two of them gradually slowed down their pace as they approached Rukuma's house, finally ending their stroll at only a few feet from her very front door. Gin took a map of the town out of his pocket and Sherry moved closer to him. Very discreetly, the boy looked up at Rukuma's house and those and its sides, scanning every last inch of them with his green eyes.

'She's at home,' he whispered, turning his head at Sherry. The girl kept her gaze on the map. 'The curtains are shut, but there's light in the first floor.'

'Should we take any extra caution?'

'I think so, even if only a little,' he agreed. 'This woman isn't someone I'd like to underestimate. Let's get out of here for now.'

Sherry nodded, tangled her hand around his and then led the two of them further down the lonely road. Gin kept staring at Rukuma's house out of the corner of his eye as they walked away. Right before they turned right at the end of the street, he thought he saw a shadow moving behind the curtains of the first floor.

The shortcut was a narrow, dark alley. They walked back and forth, paying special attention to their hiding spots. They weren't the best he had ever seen, but hopefully the darkness of nightfall would act in their favor.

It would all go okay, Gin was sure of that. It wouldn't even take them too long. By Saturday morning, they would be packing to leave the island whilst Rukuma would lay dead and cold, no longer a problem for the Organization. And for the first time he pictured the reaction of the rest of the town, her friends, her neighbors - their affected faces, their cheeks wet from crying, their unanswered questions and inquires. So young, they would say, such sudden end to a promising life full of opportunities, yet to be, but which would now never be, lived. What kind of monster could have done it, they would ask themselves. That's what anyone would see him as, wasn't it? A monster. That must be his victims' last thought, and also what Sherry believed, no matter how much she tried to hide it. Her very silence and the way her gaze avoided his while they walked up and down the dark alley could be nothing but further proof. When she suggested going back, he simply nodded and followed her in the now dimmer light of dusk.

Rukuma's street was as lonely as it had been when they walked away from it. The only difference was the slightly darker sky, whose color had changed from a pale pink to a deep shade of purple in the last few minutes. Gin contemplated its beauty while Sherry and he walked hand in hand - night was very near. They had spent more than planned examining the shortcut, so now they would need to hurry to get to the hotel before darkness engulfed the little town. Sure, street lights were very helpful, but he didn't really fancy the idea of walking around those little-known streets late at night, not even with his dear Beretta (which he rarely did not carry) hidden beneath his clothes and ready to be used at any given time.

As they approached Rukuma's house, Gin couldn't help having a superficial look at it. The curtains were still shut, but all lights were off now. Maybe their target had gone to sleep. However, something caught his attention - a mysterious gleam, right between the shut curtains of a window in the first floor, as if coming from the very room in which he had believed to see Rukuma a few minutes ago. He turned his face to Sherry, whose hair looked redder in the dim light - and not only her hair, but also her skin, now that he paid some attention... Especially...

Gin opened his eyes wide. His heart skipped a beat and he hurried to seize the girl's arm and pull her to the ground, just in time for them to see a bullet fly across the street and impact on the concrete wall behind them, missing Sherry's neck by less than a second.

Still crouching on the dark pavement, Gin moved his head to one side just in time to dodge a second bullet, which flew dangerously close to his ear. A few silvery hairs touched the ground at the very moment the boy took his gun out and aimed at Rukuma, whose position was given away by the gleam of her rifle's scope. He straightened up his back and squeezed the trigger, but Sherry pulled him back to the ground all of sudden. He was about to protest when the sound of a window breaking was followed by that of yet another bullet hitting the wall behind them.

'We stand no choice against her!' Sherry claimed. 'We need to get out of... Watch out!'

Her hands pushed him away and Rukuma's shot missed his chest by inches.

As if obeying some silent order, Gin and Sherry looked at each other in the eye in unison. While still holding the stare, they nodded and took the other's hand. Then, without a word, both stood up at the very moment that they heard Rukuma shoot her rifle again. Sherry lowered her head, dodging the bullet by inches, and they started to run away.

But no sooner than they had taken a few steps, Gin felt Sherry's hand pull his and heard a hushed cry. He stopped and then turned at once, only to confirm his guess – Rukuma had finally hit one of her targets. His heart twisted painfully as he contemplated a fresh, bleeding wound in Sherry's left thigh. As if sensing the pair of green eyes fixed on her, the girl looked up at him.

'Don't stop!' she roared, her pain visible underneath the seriousness that her face showed. 'Keep running! Don't worry for me, I'm… '

And suddenly, as he watched her talk, an unmistakable round, red light appeared on her chest. With no time to think, Gin acted out of impulse as he threw himself onto the girl and pushed her against the concrete wall, shielding her with his very body.

Time seemed to slow down as the bullet dashed into his right shoulder. Perfectly aware of what was about to happen, the boy took a deep breath, seizing the initial lack of pain. All of his training came back to him at once – the figures, the data, the advice. And so did all the times he had been shot before, every single thing he had felt, all the mistakes he had made the first time, his gradual improvement. Trying to keep them in mind, he focused on his breath. In and out. Stay calm. In and out. You'll make it. This is not the first time you're shot, and be sure it won't be the last one. In and out.

And then it finally came – waves of numbing pain started rolling across his body, all of them coming from the same point from which blood had begun pumping out of him. He bit his lower lip so as not to scream and looked at Sherry, whose face showed only horror now. Fighting the excruciating ache that flooded his right arm to his very fingertips, he grabbed her hand as tightly as he could and, with the fiercest look he was capable of, gave her a nod and whispered 'Let's go.'

Ignoring the pain, Gin moved away from the wall and pointed his Beretta at Rukuma. He shot one, two, three times, not really caring whether he hit her. Then, following a quick gesture to Sherry, the two of them started to run again, this time finally leaving Rukuma, her house and the sound of the shattering glass of her window far behind.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

First of all, let me repeat it once more: **thank you for reading this far!** I really mean it. It **honors** me that you find my work to be worth your time and attention. It really does!

 **I enjoyed writing this chapter very much** , even if it was also a little difficult (especially at the beginning). I had **planned** some weeks before what would happen (especially Rukuma's attack), but I needed to add some 'filling' details and even write down a brief chronology. I wrote most of the chapter on my mobile phone during a weekend trip (to which I even brought my English dictionary!). Also, I had previously **googled what it is like to be shot**. I tried to give this chapter as much action as I could, and to narrate it as well as I could - sadly, I'm afraid I'm not very good at that! **Action isn't exactly my forte**. What is it, then? I'm not very sure myself. But it's not action.

Also, as you may have noticed, what happens in this chapter was actually sort of **"hinted" in chapter four** (when Sherry said 'Does it mean we should expect her to shoot us dead from the bank she works in?'). Even if the place from which she shoots them and also the consequences change, in the end Rukuma **did** attack them, just as Sherry had feared.

I hoped you liked the chapter. **Thank you** again for reading! As always, let me encourage you to **tell me if you find nay kind of mistake, or if you can suggest me how to improve my writing in general**. With your help, I'll become a better writer!

So this is it. **See you next week and lots of love!**

 **Sherry F.**


	6. Chapter 6: Crash

**Chapter 6: Crash.**

Sherry moved the syringe away from Gin's arm and threw it into a plastic bag on the nightstand. She couldn't help noticing how, even while lying face down on the hotel bed, his gaze followed every movement of hers.

'This should keep tetanus away,' the girl commented. 'Do you want any painkillers, or maybe a sedative?'

'I'm fine,' he answered, slightly shaking his head against the pillow. 'Just… cover it and treat your own wound already. You need it.'

'It's merely a scratch,' she argued. Gin's eyes gave her a reprobating look, which she avoided by pretending to be very interested in the first-aid kit next to her lap. 'The bullet only brushed my tight. I'm okay…'

'You didn't sound that okay when she shot you,' the boy replied. Finally looking up from the various bandages to figure the size of the injury, Sherry didn't miss the worried frown on his face. 'And you've been limping ever since – don't try to deny that. I think you should have a look at it.'

'And I will,' Sherry protested, struggling to keep her cool. 'It's only that… I thought your wound should be treated more urgently.'

Gin's expression turned graver at her words. He averted his eyes, clearly uncomfortable with the arisen topic. In the most absolute silence, Sherry looked away for an instant and then took a big, square dressing from her kit.

'You know it won't just heal for good, don't you?' she murmured, her eyes inevitably fixed on the crimson-red wound on his shoulder. It looked reasonably clean now, at least. The bleeding had stopped before they got to the hotel, so it had been fairly easy to hide it from the sight of the unsuspecting clerk. After all, Gin was pretty good at concealing his pain. He always bragged about having an extraordinary stamina – but did he, or was it a mere lie so she didn't worry? How much pain could he possibly be in at that very moment? 'Chances are that some ache will come up every now and then for the rest of your life, or that you will lose some mobility.'

'I know,' he whispered. Sherry had a look at his apparently tranquil face and suddenly felt like slapping him. So that was it? Was he so proud that he wouldn't let the tiniest sign of "weakness" show, not even in such situation, when an infection could possibly be already killing him from inside, when he could be facing an irrevocable, lifelong damage of his very physical condition? Did he need to always feel superior? Couldn't he just admit being afraid, regretting his decisions, needing others' help? Without a word, she finally placed the dressing on the wound – Gin grimaced momentarily when the cloth pressed against his skin

'This is all I dare to do,' she commented, trying her best to stay calm and not to give in to the corrosive rage that flooded her heart. 'But that bullet should be removed by a surgeon. We'll phone the headquarters as soon as we can so they'll have the operating room ready when you arrive – in the meantime, I'm afraid you'll have to put up with it.'

'It's okay. I'll be fine,' he answered, his gaze still avoiding hers.

'No, you won't.'

The three words came out before Sherry could realize she was pronouncing them. Gin looked at her, showing his clear surprise, and tilted his head. That was it. Taking a deep breath, Sherry finally gave in.

'You have just been shot, Gin,' she pointed out. 'In the shoulder. Who knows how much blood you may have lost, or whether the wound will get infected, or what nerves or muscles the bullet may have crushed and destroyed. Don't you see,' she inquired, unconsciously raising her voice, 'the danger you've been and are in? Don't you realize what this shot may mean, what it may cost you?'

'Of course I do!' he replied. 'I knew all of that when I launched myself in front of Rukuma's rifle…'

'Show it, then!' she roared furiously. 'You say you don't want people to see you as a monster, and yet you repress your humanity, being too proud to display any form of "weakness"! Well, I hope you drown in your own arrogance one day, and that you…'

'That's not it!' he yelped back, interrupting the girl's speech. 'It's not…'

But he couldn't go on. A grimace of pain shadowed his face and Sherry couldn't help a shriek – Gin had tried to sit up, only to fall back onto the bed on his right side. Sherry moved forwards to help him, but the boy made her a gesture and finally managed to get himself back up. Now breathing heavily and visibly suffering from a good deal of pain, he sat up straight, his body's weight leaning on his left side.

'That's not it,' he panted. 'I don't intend to look "superior" or anything by hiding my pain and trying to look calm. It's only… that I don't want you to worry too much. And of course,' he added, raising his hand to ask an about-to-intervene Sherry to let him finish, 'I knew what I risked when I launched myself into that bullet's way. But I didn't care. All that I could think… was that I didn't want you to die.'

Sherry's response came to a halt in her throat. Feeling as if her heart had been tied in a knot, she kept quiet.

'Rukuma was aiming at your very chest!' he explained. 'That shot would have killed you! When I realized, I freaked out. Your leg was hurt, so you might not have been able to stand back up if had pushed you to the ground – and I had no time to think, Rukuma could shoot and the bullet would be impossible to dodge. So I didn't think. I acted out of impulse and shielded you with my own body.'

Sherry shook her head. 'But you were risking your very life…' she muttered, unable to hold herself for any longer.

'I knew it,' he responded, lowering his gaze. 'But I didn't care, as long as I could save yours.'

The girl let out a sad laugh and lifted her boyfriend's face with her hand. When their eyes met, she laughed again and whispered 'You suicidal romantic...'

'I love you, Shiho,' he claimed, looking at her in the eye. 'Today, I was willing to give my very life for you – and so will I tomorrow, and the day after that, and every single day for the rest of my life. You're what matters to me the most in this world.'

The girl smiled, fighting the tears that threatened to fill her eyes.

'I love you too,' she murmured, moving closer to him. 'But I don't want you to give your life for me, or to be hurt in any way for my sake. Don't you see,' she added, 'that I wouldn't be able to cope with such guilt, that the pain would be twice as bad? Losing you alone would break my heart, but knowing myself to be the responsible…'

'Save that guilt for when you poison me,' he joked, and both laughed.

'I'm serious,' she insisted, a smile still on her face. 'I don't want to lose you,' she whispered.

'Neither do I,' he answered. 'I thought I was going to lose you today, and I was utterly scared. I love you, Shiho…'

Without a single word, the girl bent forwards and pressed her lips against his. The boy kissed her back and his left hand gently caressed her cheek. When her face moved away from his, Shiho contemplated the boy for a moment. Then, she called him by his name, his actual name.

'Yes?' he answered.

'I have made a decision,' she spoke. Her pulse quickened. 'I… I want us to make love. Right here and right now.'

Faster than she could have a predicted, a bright blush covered the boy's cheeks.

'But…' he started.

'We've been dangerously close to death today,' she argued. 'I could have lost you. Or you could have lost me. And I don't want to die and regret not having lived enough,' she claimed. 'So let's live while we still can.'

'But… But it's your virginity, Shiho!' he exclaimed, moving even closer to her. 'Are you sure about this?'

With a silent smile, Shiho nodded her head and then looked up at the boy.

'I trust you,' she whispered. 'And I love you. And I want you to… to have all of me. May I… have all of you?'

Following some initial seconds of quiet shock, the boy smiled timidly and gave an enthusiastic nod.

'Of course,' he muttered. 'Yes.'

Very awkwardly, Gin moved both his hands towards Sherry's blouse. Noticing the pain on his face, the girl gave him a worried, to which he responded with a smile that seemed to say 'It's alright.' She let him go on. One button at a time, the blouse soon fell onto the bed and then slid down its side and to the floor.

Sherry closed her eyes when, after bending towards her, Gin started placing kiss after kiss on her chest. The boy's lips pressed against her collarbones, then her breasts, setting off a flow of waves of pleasure that began running through her body like wild horses, all of them hurrying towards the same spot. In the meantime, his fingers flew around her bra, fighting to undo it. Her own hands moved down to her jeans, and the two pieces of clothing shortly fell to the floor in unison. As if suddenly aware of his own pants being on him, the boy hurried to take them off too and then looked back at her.

Sherry couldn't help blushing when Gin shamelessly moved his gaze down to her breasts – curiously enough, he blushed just as much as her. After staring his fill (or so it seemed), he cleared his throat, as if ready to give an important speech, and looked back up into her eyes.

'May I…?' he spoke. 'I mean, may I…? You know, just… I mean… Like… Well…'

The girl let out a laugh. Gin, who had turned redder and redder with every word he said, lowered his gaze in embarrassment.

'You can touch,' she answered, and the boy looked back up. 'Of course you can touch. Please do it.'

The boy gave a shy smile and then moved even closer to her. The fascinated look on his face when his hands first pressed against her breasts forced Sherry to suppress another laugh, fearing to hurt his feelings although speechlessly amused by the innocence of her boyfriend. However, that didn't last long. A moan of pleasure made its way out of her lips before she could do anything to fight it back – Gin had moved his face closer to her chest, and he was sucking her nipples with such ferocity as she could have never imagined, switching from one to the other every few seconds. She could feel the wetness forming between her legs and the spasm-like movements of her labia, all following the rhythm of the endless beats of piercing pleasure.

Sherry's hands slipped down Gin's torso, caressing his firm chest and slowly heading towards his now tight crotch. The boy's entire body, even the tongue that still played with her nipple, tensed up when she moved her hand into his underpants. Sherry felt the thin layer of hair under her fingers, and the boy let out a moan of his own when her hand ventured lower between his legs. Gin's groin felt intensely warm (partly due to the heat which his body gave off being trapped underneath the clothing, she reasoned), and it didn't take her too long to find his already partly-hard dick. She let herself enjoy the feel of it and the oddity of its nature, making its owner moan in the process.

'How is it,' she started, a kinky smile on her face, 'that you masturbate? Is it like this?' she asked, cluthing the hardening shaft and moving her hand up and down its length. Gin's moans increased both his volume and speed. 'Is this what you do when you're alone and horny and thinking of me, wishing it was my hand instead of yours?'

Gin's head fell back in pleasure and Sherry couldn't help an amused laugh. With a fluent movement, she released the boy's cock and rolled down his underwear to his very knees. An inevitable smile was born on her face when she looked down, and her cheeks rapidly blushed harder than ever in her entire life.

'It's… big,' she commented, her smile only widening at the contemplation of such glorious appendage. An unexpected fear invaded her, and she hurried to look up at Gin's face. The blushing boy, whose eyes avoided both her and the object of her admiral, didn't say a word. 'Are you sure it will… "fit in"? I'm not…' she added, looking back down, 'that big… "downwards"…'

Her words only made Gin's cheeks get a darker shade of red. With an unmistakable look of embarrassement, the boy parted his lips a few times, as if trying to find the words, and finally shrugged his shoulders.

'I… I honestly don't know!' he claimed. 'I guess it'll "fit", don't you? The species would have perished a long time ago otherwise. But could it… not "fit in"?' he asked timidly, 'Is that even possible?'

'I don't know… A baby's head is supposed to be able to get out through the vagina, isn't it? Anyway,' she added, 'there's a way to find out, isn't there?'

Gin's cheeks, which had started turning back to their usual color, blushed yet again, even if way less than they had previously had. With a kinky smile on her face, Sherry moved closer to him while taking her panties off. Her entire body shivered when her bare crotch brushed against the cool sheets. Gin stared at it for a long while, fascination again on his face, after which he looked back up as if compelled by some silent voice. The girl made an eloquent gesture to him and he hurried to drop his underpants on the floor, next to the rest of their clothing. Now fully naked, the two of them stayed still, only sitting on the bed.

In the most complete silence, Sherry let her gaze wander up and down her boyfriend's body. He was simply gorgeous. She contemplated his crotch, adorned by a thin layer of fair hair. It was certainly odd – different from a woman's, at the very least. But she liked it. His balls looked nearly comical, whilst his cock… Words couldn't describe such gloriousness. She only hoped it could get inside her without much difficulty. She had read about penises not fitting in, about the damage they produced to the person being penetrated… Sherry closed her eyes for a moment – that wasn't a proper theme to dwell on right before losing her virginity.

'So?' Gin asked, taking her off guard. 'Do we simply... do it?'

'Yes,' she responded, feeling rather nervous. 'Yes, let's do it. Do… do you still want? Do you really want to do it? It's okay if you don't.'

'I want to do it,' he answered with a nod of his head. 'And you? It's okay if you don't.'

'I want to do it, too,' she assured. 'I've been wanting to do it for a long time. Shall we… start?'

'Yes. Yes, that would be okay, I think.'

Sherry bent forwards timidly and Gin did the same. When their lips met, however, all of her doubt seemed to go away at once. Gin's tongue brushed against hers, and she couldn't help moving closer to him. She placed one hand around his waist and the other one on his left shoulder. After a while their faces parted and the boy bent to kiss her neck. Sherry's labia resumed their erratic movements when she felt his hands on her breasts, clutching them and playing with her nipples. From what she saw out of the corner of her eye, Gin's cock was also getting harder, discreetly twitching and jolting in its erection.

Holding the boy's body close to hers, Sherry lay down on the bed very slowly, moans still coming out of her lips due to the boy's playing with her nipples. Her legs spread wide when she felt Gin's body pressing against hers. He was rather heavy (especially considering how skinny he looked) and the warmth he gave off surrounded her in an inebriated embrace, but she didn't care – she couldn't worry about such insignificant details, not while a fire seemed to burn in her crotch.

'Do it…' she muttered. 'I can't take this anymore… Just do it already…'

At her words, Gin stopped playing with her chest (much to her dislike) and moved a few inches away from her. When they stared into each other's eyes, the girl couldn't help noticing how blushed he was, but also the confident look his face showed.

'Wait!' he spoke, his voice rough from the lack of use in the last minutes. 'There's something we nearly forgot… I don't think,' he added with a joking grin, 'you want to get pregnant, right?'

Both laughed. Thankful for the lighter-hearted atmosphere, Sherry turned on the bed and hurried to take a pack of condoms out of a drawer of the nearest nightstand. However, just as she spun back to Gin, something caught her attention and froze her on the spot out of embarrassment. The boy was sitting on the bed in front of her, and in his hand he held the very same item as her.

Sherry blushed as fast as she couldn't have predicted and she hurried to avert her eyes. Gin's voice showed utter astonishment as he exclaimed 'You have condoms?'

'I was about to ask you the same!' she replied, raising her face and looking back at him. The boy's cheeks had turned red.

'You know I'm a cautious lad!' he argued.

'In more than one sense…'

'We already faced that situation once, didn't we?' he went on, ignoring his girlfriend's comment. 'A few weeks ago, we were about to… to have sex, but we couldn't because we had no condoms. I didn't want that to happen again, so I bought a pack the day after that… and I've been carrying it everywhere ever since.'

'I did the same,' Sherry admitted. 'I left mine in the nightstand today, but I normally take it with me. You have no idea how awkward it was when I dropped my purse in the shopping center last week …'

'Vodka thought mine was a pack of cigarettes,' the boy mentioned with an amused grin. 'I had to tell him they were peach-scented so he would stop asking me for one…'

Sherry shook her head. After a moment of recollecting herself from the comical scene that played in her head, she looked briefly at the pack he held and then into his eyes. 'So?' she asked. 'Shall we try out your "peach-scented cigarettes"? I really want to… give them a taste.'

'That sounds like a good idea to me,' Gin replied, his lips curled up in a kinky smile as he moved closer to Sherry.

With no need for more words, the boy opened the little box, took a foil square out of it and carefully ripped its wrapper. Out of the corner of the eye, Sherry saw him roll the condom over his dick while she took both packs away and laid them on the nightstand. Gin was already done when she turned back at him. The girl's pulse quickened again – the moment she had been waiting for was now excitingly near.

She lay back on the bed and Gin hurried to place himself on top of her. Her arms moved around his back, taking care not to even brush the wound of his right shoulder –their bodies pressed against each other, his skin feeling pleasantly warm.

'Are you ready?'

The girl looked up. Gin was staring at her, his cheeks of a bright pink and his face showing how undeniably nervous he was.

'Yes,' she answered. 'Absolutely ready.'

With a brief grimace of pain she didn't miss, the boy shifted his weight to his right arm and moved the left one downwards. He seized his own penis and (awkwardly) pressed it against the girl's crotch – Sherry couldn't help a few pleased sighs as it rubbed against her wet labia, obviously struggling to find the spot where it would fit. When Gin's swollen glans finally met the entrance of her vagina; he took a moment to look up at her in the eye, then thrusted with an unexpected force.

Sherry had no idea what the sound she produced could be named as, nor did she care. As a wave of pleasure rushed across her body, there was only one thought in her mind – that she wanted more. However, no sooner than she had started enjoying herself, a sudden jolt reached every last cell of her entire being, flooding her not with pleasure but with ache – an electric-like, raw pain, coming from the very point where the pleasure seemed to be born, right were her body joined Gin's. A distressed moan came out of her lips before she could do anything to stop it, causing the boy to change his look of pleasure into one of worry.

'Are you okay?' he panted. 'Did I hurt you?'

'No, of course not…' The girl shook her head and tried to pull a calm face, one that wouldn't give her lie away. 'I'm okay, go on… just go on…'

She bit her lower lip expecting more pain when he thrust again – and it came, only that not as much; the pleasure, however, was greater, running up and down her spine. And the third thrust felt even better, and so did the fourth one, and the fifth one… She lost count shortly after reaching ten.

Her moans were echoed by Gin's as he pushed himself in and out of her body. Sherry arched her back unconsciously, raising her hip, and let her head fall back when her widely parted labia moved around the the base of Gin's cock. It felt even bigger than it looked, brushing harshly against her wet insides, giving her the irrational idea that she would break with the next thrust; but she didn't break, and it all felt surprisingly good – there was no pain now, only the numbing pleasure that burned her entire body. She wanted to scream, to ask for more, only a bit more, enough to feel the well-known explosion only magnified by the feel of something big, alive and warm making its way inside her. She had lost her sense of time, only keeping that of space, of Gin being on, in and out of her. She tightened her embrace around his shoulders and pushed her body closer to hers – his chest pressed against her breasts, her stomach against his. She could feel his legs between hers, the warmth of his strong thighs as they hit her burning groin with every thrust.

Gin was surely enjoying it, too. Even through the pleasure-induced confusion that fogged her mind, she couldn't help but notice the signs of what it all felt like to him – the loud moans that kept company to hers, the heavy panting which his breath had become, the ectasy look on his blushing face. Their eyes met as she contemplated him. Gin smiled and delicately pressed his lips against hers. When he tried to move away, Sherry's tongue forced its way into his mouth and her right hand pushed his head down.

It was only when she ran out of air that Sherry's lips parted from the boy's. She let out a moan and looked at him in the eye. Their faces were as close as they'd never been, their foreheads pressing against each other's, and her gaze unconsciously wandered up and down, as if trying to memorize every last detail she could now distinguish. Apparently realizing he had slowed down the griding of his hips, the boy gave an unexpectedly hard thrust and resumed his previous rhythm.

The waves of rushed pleasure soon dashed once more across the girl's entire body. She pressed her hips even closer to his and let her moans become louder and faster as seconds passed. She didn't care who could hear them – there was nothing she could care about at that moment apart from Gin's cock inside her body, his sweaty skin brushing against hers and the sound of his heavy panting in her shoulder. Nothing else, only the two of them, tangled up in an embrace as tight as she could have never imagined.

When he reached climax, Gin's entire body tensed up against hers and he thrusted deeper than she could have thought possible, getting a high moan out of her lips as he buried his face in her neck and let out a broken cry. Finally, after a few seconds, she felt his body relax and fall helplessly onto hers. Gin's breath was rough and heavy, but it seemed to be getting back to its usual pace.

'I love you,' he muttered, his lips still pressing against Sherry's neck. 'I love you.'

'I love you, too,' she responded as quietly as him. 'I love you more than anything else in this world.'

Gin's cock slid out of her and the girl seized the chance to reposition herself on the bed. Her crotch felt very weird – it hurt a bit, but not enough to bother her. She hurried to pull the sheets over both her and Gin and then curled up next to him. Much to her delight, the boy moved his arms around her and pushed their bodies together. Still holding her tight, he turned the lights off and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

'Good night, Shiho.'

Shiho buried her face in her boyfriend's shoulder and smiled.

'Good night.'

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

First of all, **thank you for reading this far**! I honors me that you consider my work to be worth your time. I hope you're enjoying the fic.

This chapter depicts **part of what the anon requested me:** Gin and Sherry having sex for the first time. The exact words were that **'first, Gin refused to take her virginity but Sherry convinced him by telling him "I trust you".'** According to this anon, a woman's virginity is a great deal in certain Asian cultures, as "giving" it to a man means 'giving him your all.' In this chapter I made a reference to the anon's words on the topic, as you may have noticed (when Sherry claims she wants Gin 'to have all of [her],' and then asks Gin whether he wants her to have all of him).

And **what's up with this chapter's title, you may ask?** Actually, at first I had no idea what to title this chapter. When writing the smut part (or at least most of it), I had some trouble focusing and finding inspiration, so I decided to have some background music. The song I chose was "Hurricane", by 30 Seconds to Mars, as I thought it suited the chapter very well. And when faced with the issue of the title, the word 'crash' (which is repeated many times in the song) came to me. I realized it went very well with the chapter, which consist of a series of **metaphorical 'crashes,'** of **metaphorical collisions** , **between Gin and Sherry** : their opposite behaviors at the beginning of the chapter, their later argument and then their eventual reconciliation, which culminates in their having sex for the first time.

As I always repeat, **please tell me if you find any kind of mistake** in this chapter. Help me become a better writer!

Lots of love and see you next week,

Sherry F.


	7. Chapter 7: A silent shot

**Chapter 7: A silent shot.**

Sherry's sleeping body reflected on the bathroom mirror. As the soapy water spiraled down the waste pipe of the washbasin, Gin put his razor down and took a moment to contemplate her in the light that had started pouring into the quiet room.

There she was. Even if not as much as the previous night, he couldn't help blushing at the sight of her naked body. She lay face up, only partly covered by the messy white sheets that tangled around her legs. The subtle movements of her chest caught his attention – not (only) because of the dark pink of her nipples against her pale breasts (which he surely liked seeing), but mostly because, even when she was as quiet as a mouse and stayed as still as a statue, her breath was the clearest proof that she was still alive. His gaze unconsciously wandered down, coming to a stop at the crimson cut on her thigh. She hadn't treated it in the end. More than aware of the soft cloth that pressed against his still-aching shoulder, he had to resist so as not to look for her first-aid kit and clean her wound while she slept.

He shook his head and moved his gaze up the mirror. His own reflection stared back at him. He looked the very same way he always did – pale, tall, green-eyed and crowned by a cascade of ash blonde hair. He felt rather well, especially when taking into account that it had only been about ten hours since he had been shot and that the bullet was still in his body, surrounded by the layers of muscle it had dashed through. He had been through worse, of course – but this time he had nearly lost something that mattered to him more than his very life.

He had to end it. Shiho was the only thing that mattered now – she had always been. He couldn't stick to their plans, nor care about the possible risks or what "that person" may have to say on the matter. It had to end. And Shiho must not be involved. If Rukuma was to kill anyone, it would be only him.

Gin walked out of the bathroom, got dressed as quietly as he could and left the room without looking back. When he arrived at the hall of the hotel, he asked the clerk to tell 'the lady in room 115' that he had gone out for a morning stroll.

Rukuma's street was as lonely as it had been the day before. The bullet marks on the concrete wall in front of her house were perfectly visible, and a part of him wondered whether her neighbors had already seen and recognized them. He jumped over the low wall that surrounded her garden (ignoring the jolt of pain that pierced his right shoulder in the process) and walked towards the front door.

With a deep breath, he rang the doorbell.

Following a single instant of utter silence, he heard Rukuma walk around the house and finally stop only a few feet away from the door. Nothing happened for a long while. Gin stood still, the cold wind brushing against his face.

'I'm not here to harm you,' he spoke. 'If I were, I wouldn't have rung your bell.'

The boy fought the temptation to put his hands into the warm pockets of his coat and waited slowly, the door opened only enough for him to see the woman at the other side. Being so close to her felt strange, but he tried not to let it show. A faint smell of tea came to him from the depths of the house – apparently, he had interrupted Rukuma's breakfast. Dragging himself back to the aim of his visit, he extended his arms and looked at her in the eye.

'I carry no guns,' he claimed. The woman didn't react in any way. 'And I'm all alone. As I say, I don't intend to hurt you.'

Rukuma held his stare, but she didn't say a single word.

'As you must already know,' he continued, 'I'm a member of the Organization you used to belong to, and I was sent to this island to kill you. But I won't.'

You've achieved something I've always wanted, he added in his head. And I have no right to take it away from you.

'I will tell the Organization you're dead,' he went on. 'They will trust my word. So you'd better run away from here. Leave everything behind and start a new life – you did it once, so I guess you'll manage to do it again.'

Rukuma looked at him even more fiercely. The boy responded by taking a step closer to the door – he expected her to close it, or to move back, but she didn't.

'You could kill me right here and right now,' he argued. 'I am rather helpless. Do you know that you hit me in the shoulder? The bullet is still inside, and it hurts a lot. Being in such state, you could beat me in a fight – trust me on that, I learned pretty much everything about you in the last few weeks before I came to this island.'

'What I want you to understand,' he explained, 'is that I'm not here to hurt you, kill you or lie to you: I'm here to help you. Run away from this island and start a new life, Rukuma. Do it as soon as possible. From the moment I walk away from your front door on, Hikako Saigo must be dead.'

Finally, Rukuma responded to him by nodding her head. Her eyes met Gin's and it was as if they voiced her thoughts – thoughts of strength, of courage and of the will he had expected her to possess. He felt like smiling.

'You mustn't tell anyone about this meeting,' he added, although he had for sure that she was aware of such condition. 'It will only get you and them in danger.'

Another nod.

'So this is it,' he claimed. Only then, by standing up straight, he realized he had bent his back very slightly towards Rukuma while he talked to her. 'As I said, from the moment I walk away on, Hikako Saigo must vanish into thin air. Understood?'

Rukuma nodded again and shut her eyes for an instant. She parted her lips, as if ready to say something, but closed them again and shook her head. Gin gave her a timid smile.

'Farewell, Eiko Rukuma,' he spoke. 'I wish you the best of lucks.'

The woman nodded once more and then bowed her head at him. With a bow of his own, Gin turned and walked away from the house. When he reached the end of the little garden he looked back and caught a last glimpse of Rukuma as she closed the door with a thud. He nodded to himself in the cold air of the early morning and jumped over the wall onto the lonely street.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

First of all, let me **thank you** again for reading this far! It really honors me that you find my work to be worth your time and attention. Thank you very much!

But **why doesn't Rukuma speak, or even get described?** I did it intentionally. In the earliest stages of working on this fic, I fiercely wanted it to pass the Bechdel Test. But then I realized that the previous 'Mission Saga' fic didn't, and so I decided that neither would this one – **either the two passed it or none of them did**. However, on this lack of representation, I came up with an idea to "justify" it: **to make Gin and Sherry the only speaking characters of this fic, and to only describe or mention the rest**. So even when it was time for Rukuma to appear, I kept this condition and thus didn't give her a single line of dialogue. Additionally, I didn't describe her, although I made up a physical description of her when still planning the story. I guess the fic ended up being rather **minimalist**!

Once more, let me encourage you to **tell me of any mistakes you may find**. English is not my mother tongue! I would also be more than glad to read your opinions on the fic or this chapter. And, by the way, let me comment something: **next week's chapter will be the last one!** I hope you enjoy it!

Lots of love and see you next Sunday,

Sherry F.


	8. Chapter 8: Shadows

**Chapter 8: Shadows.**

Sherry bent forward to have a better view of the clear midday skyline. There was their destination, a distant, oddly-shaped mass of green, brown and grey that emerged abruptly from the azure waters. Her only desire was to reach it, to flee from the loud chat of her fellow passengers, the rumble of the ferry's engine and the high-pitched shrieks of the seagulls that flew above their heads every few seconds, and immediately be back home, to walk into her apartment and have a moment to calm herself down in the peace and solitude she longed for.

She recognized Gin's light steps way before the boy reached her and leaned against the railings next to her. She turned her face to one side and pretended to contemplate the vast ocean before them.

'Are you okay?' he asked, and Sherry could detect a good deal of true concern in his tone. 'Are you seasick or anything?'

'I'm fine,' she answered. 'Enjoying the views, that's all. And you?'

'I'm fine.'

'How's your wound doing?' she spoke. Still avoiding his gaze, she tilted her head so as to check him, even if only out of the corner of the eye.

'Pretty well, actually,' he claimed, seemingly unaware of the girl's manoeuvre. 'It barely hurts. And I'll have the bullet taken out in roughly one hour, so you don't need to worry.'

'I can only be grateful we're going back half a day before planned,' she confessed with a shrug. 'The sooner that wound is treated by an actual doctor, the better.'

'You did a great job, though,' the boy added. 'You cleaned, disinfected and dressed it – and even got me a tetanus shot. Alhough in the end you didn't treat your own wound…'

'It was merely a scratch, I told you,' she replied. 'It's already healing perfectly well on its own. And I had no time to treat it, anyway – right after I was done with your shoulder, we started arguing, and then…'

A familiar warmth flooded Sherry's cheeks accompanied with what she guessed would appear as a pale shade of red. It still felt odd to think that Gin and she had had sex. She didn't regret it – actually, she was rather proud. And, above all, she was glad that it had gone well. Not even the slight soreness of her crotch or the tiny drops of blood which she had noticed that morning on the sheets could possibly eclipse the satisfaction she felt.

'I'm glad we did it,' he claimed, taking Sherry completely off guard. She turned and noticed that the boy's cheeks were of a dark pink. Noticing his gaze move up towards hers, she hurried to stare back at the calm waters. 'Are you?'

'Yes, I am,' she answered. 'I really am. I had wanted to do it for a long time.'

'The only thing I could regret about it is that you didn't treat your wound…'

'It's okay, I tell you' she insisted, nearly on her nerves. 'I'll let the Organization's doctors have a look at it, okay?'

'I can't help worrying for you,' he argued. He had lowered his voice and moved closer to her, but Sherry stayed still. 'Everything's going spectacularly well, I want it to stay like that. I only hope Rukuma's being as lucky as us…'

Sherry folded her arms more tightly and her right hand closed around the cool metal railings. Her gaze searched desperately for something to focus on, only so she had an excuse not to look directly at her boyfriend's face.

'She'll be okay, I'm sure,' he went on. 'She's done it all before, hasn't she? She'll manage to start a new life – and this time the Organization won't disturb her. She'll be finally free. Are you okay?'

Sherry shifted her weight to one leg and stood up straight. The longer Gin stayed right beside her, the more she worried about him finding out, but she couldn't end their conversation too abruptly. Something inside of her seemed to stir, unease, wanting to get out by any means possible…

'You look tense, Shiho,' the boy pointed out. She could feel his green eyes fixed on her profile, scrutinizing every single inch of her face which he could see. 'What's wrong? If you feel sick…'

'It's nothing,' she answered at last with a shrug of her shoulders and a shook of her head. 'It's only that… that I feel something has changed,' she added. `I feel things will be different from now on, even if they look the same – that I will see everything… from a very different point of view…'

She stopped. A sudden urge to tell Gin the truth flooded her entire being, as if carried by the blood her heart pumped in a furious pace.

'It's okay,' the boy spoke, giving her a perfect excuse not to keep on talking. 'I know we've been raised to take this whole virginity issue as a big deal…'

Shiho bit her lip so as to repress a sad laugh. Although, giving it a second thought, it was actually better if he believed that to be what she worried about, wasn't it? Yes, it was – anything was fine as long as he didn't know the truth. He must never know anything of the plans she had made while he slept, of the clock alarm he had not heard; of the chilly air in the early morning as she waited for the baker to get to Rukuma's street; of the appetizing warmth the few loafs of bread gave off as the syringe moved in and out of each one of them through the thin plastic bag, filling them with a tasteless poison the forensic doctors would not find; of how she had got back into the bed where he still lay, perfectly unaware of what had just happened … He could never know that she had killed Rukuma – that, for the first time in her existence, Shiho Miyano had directly ended a human life. Nor could he know that it had been for the same reason he had claimed for sparing their target's life – that Rukuma had seen their dreams come true, that she had conquered a freedom they had never known and would never have.

As he went on with a lecture she didn't pay much attention to, the girl could hear him say something on 'innocence' and the loss of it. With his hand pressed against hers and her gaze fixed on the blue sky before them, Shiho could only think he was right on that, of all things.

She had paid one last visit to Rukuma's street while they waited to buy their ferry tickets. From the top of the low wall of her garden, she had seen the woman's corpse through an open window.

She wasn't exactly sure of what she had felt.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

¡Hola! Hello! Hallo! こんにちは! Salut! Here comes Sherry Furude once more, ready for attack!

So here is the last chapter! **Thank you very much for reading the fic!** I hope you enjoyed it!

As you may have noticed, the fic is **eight** chapters long... being eight **the number of days Gin estimates for the mission in chapter 2.** I could do this because I decided the number of chapters way before writing them. Along with this, I also planned the (alternate) distribution of the POV throughout the entire fic, making it **the opposite of _Hokkaido Views_ '**. I wanted these two fics to complement each other, and I'm rather content with the results. At the very least, I've met my main goal on this - to have the smut chapter narrated by Sherry.

 **I considered various possible endings** for this fic: one in which Gin killed Rukuma, another one in which she ended up safe and sound... The idea of Sherry killing her (without Gin knowing about it) was something that came to me all of sudden and which, as odd as I found it at first, I ended up liking very much - too much not to use it! I like using my writing to explore what I call **'the dark corners of the human soul,'** what we humans are capable of at our worst. In this fic, Sherry kills Rukuma out of pure envy. Thus, the mission means the **loss of her innocence** \- not (mainly or only) because she has sex for the first time, but because **she gives in to the darkest corners of her soul and kills a fellow human being directly and actively for the very first time.**

Thank you again for reading. And, yet again, let me encourage you to **tell me if you find any kind of mistake**. Help me become a better writer!

Lots of love and see you next time!

Sherry F.


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